Distributing communication of a data stream among multiple devices

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9420026-B2
Application number	US-201213665058-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Oct 31, 2012
Priority date	Oct 31, 2012
Publication date	Aug 16, 2016
Grant date	Aug 16, 2016

Abstract

Disclosed example methods to distribute communication of a data stream include, in response to a request received from a first device, assigning a number of communication ports to a stream splitting session via which communication of the data stream is to be distributed among a plurality of devices. Such example methods also include determining a type of the request from among a plurality of possible types. Such example methods further include, when the request corresponds to a first type, providing information to the first device for distribution among the plurality of devices, the information to be used to establish respective data connections via which respective portions of the data stream are to be received by the plurality of devices during the stream splitting session.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method to distribute communication of a data stream, the method comprising:
in response to a request received from a first device, assigning a first number of communication ports to a stream splitting session via which respective different portions of the data stream are to be split from the data stream and communicated concurrently to respective different ones of a plurality of devices;
determining a type of the request from among a plurality of possible types;
when the request corresponds to a first type of request, providing port information to the first device for distribution among the plurality of devices, the port information to be used to establish respective data connections via which the respective different portions of the data stream are to be communicated concurrently to the respective different ones of the plurality of devices during the stream splitting session; and
when the request corresponds to a second type of request different from the first type of request, using a first one of the communication ports to establish a first data connection with the first device via which a first portion of the data stream is to be received by the first device during the stream splitting session, wherein the second type of request corresponds to a multi-device request to be received from respective ones of a group of devices to be included in the stream splitting session, and the multi-device request identifies a source of the data stream, a number of devices to be included in the stream splitting session, and a group identifier to collectively represent the group of devices to be included in the stream splitting session.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first type of request corresponds to a single device request that is to be received from a primary device on behalf of a group of devices to be included in the stream splitting session, and the single device request identifies a source of the data stream and a number of devices to be included in the stream splitting session.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the port information identifies the communication ports assigned to the stream splitting session, and the first number of communication ports is at least equal to a number of devices included in the plurality of devices.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the request is a first request corresponding to the first type of request, the plurality of devices is a first plurality of devices, and further including:
receiving a second request corresponding to the first type of request from a second device;
further assigning a second number of communication ports, in addition to the first communication ports, to the stream splitting session; and
providing second port information to the second device for distribution among a second plurality of devices, the second port information to be used by the second plurality of devices to establish respective data connections via which respective portions of the data stream are to be communicated during the stream splitting session, the communication of the data stream to be distributed among the first and second pluralities of devices during the stream splitting session.

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein the first type of request corresponds to a hybrid request that is to be received from each of a plurality of primary devices on behalf of respective groups of devices to be included in the stream splitting session, and each respective hybrid device request identifies a source of the data stream, a number of devices included in the respective group of devices corresponding to the respective hybrid device request, and a group identifier to collectively represent the groups of devices to be included in the stream splitting session.

6. The method of claim 1 , further including:
obtaining respective streaming capability information from the respective ones of the devices when the respective data connections are established with the respective ones of the devices;
splitting the data stream into the respective different portions to be communicated to the respective ones of the devices, the splitting to be performed based on the respective streaming capability information obtained from the respective ones of the devices;
monitoring for changes to the respective data connections established with the respective ones of the devices, and for an additional device to be added to the stream splitting session; and
adjusting the splitting based on a change detected via the monitoring.

7. A tangible machine readable storage medium including machine readable instructions which, when executed, cause a machine to perform operations comprising:
in response to a request received from a first device, assigning a first number of communication ports to a stream splitting session via which respective different portions of a data stream are to be split from the data stream and communicated concurrently to respective different ones of a plurality of devices;
determining a type of the request from among a plurality of possible types;
when the request corresponds to a first type of request, providing port information to the first device for distribution among the plurality of devices, the port information to be used to establish respective data connections via which the respective different portions of the data stream are to be communicated concurrently to the respective different ones of the plurality of devices during the stream splitting session; and
when the request corresponds to a second type of request different from the first type of request, using a first one of the communication ports to establish a first data connection with the first device via which a first portion of the data stream is to be received by the first device during the stream splitting session, wherein the second type of request corresponds to a multi-device request that is to be received from respective ones of a group of devices to be included in the stream splitting session, and the multi-device request is to identify a source of the data stream, a number of devices to be included in the stream splitting session, and a group identifier to collectively represent the group of devices to be included in the stream splitting session.

8. The tangible machine readable storage medium of claim 7 , wherein the first type of request corresponds to a single device request that is to be received from a primary device on behalf of a group of devices to be included in the stream splitting session, and the single device request is to identify a source of the data stream and a number of devices to be included in the stream splitting session.

9. The tangible machine readable storage medium of claim 7 , wherein the port information identifies the communication ports assigned to the stream splitting session, and the first number of communication ports is at least equal to a number of devices included in the plurality of devices.

10. The tangible machine readable storage medium of claim 7 , wherein the request is a first request corresponding to the first type of request, the plurality of devices is a first plurality of devices, and the operations further include:
accessing a second request corresponding to the first type of request from a second device;
further assigning a second number of communication ports, in addition to the first communication ports, to the stream splitting session; and
providing second port information to the second device for distribution among a second plurality of devices, the second port information to be used by the second plurality of devices to establish respective data connections via which respective portions of the data stream are to be communicated during the stream splitting sessi

Assignees

• At & T Ip I Lp

Inventors

• Baldwin Christopher
• Barnes Bruce
• Heinmiller Wayne Robert
• Kenny Patrick
• Mallian Dolores J

Classifications

• H04W12/08

  Access security · CPC title

• H04L65/80 Primary

  Responding to QoS · CPC title

• H04L67/327

  Electricity · mapped topic

• H04L65/4084

  Electricity · mapped topic

• H04L65/602 Primary

  Electricity · mapped topic